Elysium
by mous1elousi3
Summary: Things take an unexpected turn when Ling and Lan Fan return to Xing.


_**A/N: I have been writing this story forever, like literally years. I think the problem is, this is another long drabble. I just had to write it though because the bunny would not leave me be.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing.**_

" **Elysium"**

Lan Fan awoke gasping for air, drenched in sweat and tangled in the bedclothes. It took her a moment to realise that she was no longer drowning in a lake, caught in the grasping hands of the dead trying to take her with them. It took longer still for her to calm her breathing and her racing heart, and remember that she was safe and alive and in the spare room she and Ling temporarily called home in the Shen lands. She rode a wave of nausea with her head tilted back, sucking in deep breaths to settle her roiling stomach. Outside the rain was still falling, and it was the sound of water that had triggered her nightmare.

She sat up and let the soaked sheets fall to her waist, feeling her pores perk up as the chilly night air rushed in to take their place. The walls of the room were thin, with poor insulation, but it was much better than remaining out in the rain. The elderly couple who had rented it to them in exchange for Ling's help in the fields and Lan Fan's help in the house were poor and had no children to care for them. If they had any idea who "Bo" and "Jiao" really were they would not consider their arrival just at the start of the monsoon a blessing.

She glanced over to where Ling lay and started. It was empty. Already searching for his _qi_ , she scrambled off her sleeping mat and felt the sheets on his. Cold, he had not been lying there for quite a while. But then his _qi_ was close, steady, and strong. He was not hurt and he had not been taken. She exhaled heavily, and settled back unto her own bed just as the door to the room slid open and he asked, "What's wrong?"

Suddenly embarrassed, she was grateful for the darkness to cover her red cheeks as she replied, "Nothing… I had a nightmare."

"Oh," he said, still staring in her general direction. "Do you want me to sit with you?"

"No, no need, I'll be fine," said Lan Fan, quickly.

He stepped into the room and slid the door shut behind him, vanishing completely from view. A moment later she heard the rustle of his sheets as he slipped back into his bed. She knew what was coming next, but still she waited for him to say, "There is no shame in asking your lord for help, I have a duty to see that you are well too."

"It is not necessary," she said, lying back down. Much to her disgust, the bed was wet with her sweat too and with the cool air it was unlikely to dry quickly. Her head was still a bit light and if she squeezed her eyes and mouth shut she could suppress the nausea. This was the worst part of her nightmares of late, now they made her ill too.

She had almost managed some semblance of comfort again to go back to sleep when Ling asked, "What was it this time?"

"What?" Lan Fan asked, turning back towards him. It made no difference; she still could not see him.

"Your nightmare," he said. "What was it this time?"

There was a flash of a hand grasping her ankle, her nausea rose again and Lan Fan replied, "The lake."

"Oh," said Ling. There was a pause, and then he said, "We shall free their souls. We won't let him live with them. He should have died three years ago."

Lan Fan did not want to talk about this, not now when the dream was still fresh in her mind. Casting about for a distraction, though in the pitch blackness of the room there was hardly any, her gaze just caught the tiny basket that had been left on the table by the window. It was still raining outside but the sky was lightening slightly as it drew closer to dawn. She looked at the basket and then asked, "My lord… what have you been telling our hosts about me?"

There was a tell-tale stilling to his _qi_ , as so often happened to it when she caught him in a bit of mischief. After a moment he replied, cautiously, slowly, "Not much. Usually we discuss farming tools and methods. He thinks that I should apply for some land of our own."

Lan Fan rolled over to face him and asked, "Is that all, my lord?"

A pause, and he replied, "Do you know that farming methods have not changed in a long time in this region?"

Lan Fan rolled her eyes this time and said, "The old woman has given me a bassinet."

A long silence this time, and then he tried in a cherry voice, "Lan Fan, have you been keeping secrets from me? It's the son of that fireworks factory owner, isn't it? I knew that you were giving him inviting looks."

"My lord!" exclaimed Lan Fan, scandalised and more than a little annoyed. "She told me that it's for when the baby comes, which confused me until I realised that she was talking about my baby and that was even more confusing. What did you tell them?"

The sheets moved again and she heard Ling's hands slap the floor as he settled flat on his back. Then he said, "Nothing, really. They made an assumption and I did not correct them. It worked too; I think people are getting suspicious. We may have to leave here soon."

She arched an eyebrow, "You're going to take your pregnant wife out into the monsoon to look for a new home?"

"I'm going to take my pregnant wife back to her family for a visit to share the good news and never return," said Ling.

She sighed and asked, "How did they come up with this assumption anyway? Whatever gave them the impression that I'm going to have a baby?"

"Your nightmares… they were wondering what was wrong, why some mornings you woke up looking pale and I said that you were sick and they just assumed that you have the 'baby sickness'. I chose not to correct them… admittedly not the best idea since they're going to start wondering why you look the same after a while," he replied. Then she heard his hands sliding along the floor, searching and when she turned to find out what it was, he grasped a hold of her bedroll and dragged her across the floor to him.

Surprised, she yelped and demanded, "My lord, what are you doing?"

He replied, "There's a fatal flaw in our cover that needs to be fixed. We need to get you pregnant before they realise it."

She rolled out of the bed as quickly as possible and squeaked, "No! We can't!"

He burst out laughing. "Oh, dear wife, are you shunning your duties?"

If she was not so embarrassed, Lan Fan would have hit him. She replied instead, "You have to tell them something else. Explain that you thought that was it but it's not. We may not be able to leave this place for a while."

Still laughing, Ling said, "Oh all right, I will explain. You're no fun sometimes, you know."

"I'm not here for your entertainment," said Lan Fan, indignant. "I'm your vassal."

"You know in Amestrian that's one letter off from 'vessel'. Think of it, Lan Fan. A boy with my looks but your eyes," said Ling.

She had, but she would never tell him that. She said, "One day you shall have fifty wives to give you fifty heirs and countless concubines for when you're tired of them. My duty is to stand as your shadow and ensure that you will succeed in your goals."

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her leg. She yelped again, but this time it was just Ling dragging her across the floor and into his bedroll. He trapped her arms and legs with his and after a moment, leaned down and kissed her cheek.

Lan Fan felt it like a burn, searing her face. She protested at once, somewhat feebly, "What do you think you're doing?"

Ling kissed her nose this time and said, "Trying to claim my rights as a husband."

"This is only pretend," said Lan Fan, trying to calm her racing heart and uneven breathing. It was a losing battle and they both knew it. For all the control and restraint she had learned after their trip to Amestris, she lost almost all of it whenever he touched her.

His lips found hers and held them until she felt the heat pooling low in her belly and she let herself relax. Then he broke the kiss and said, "Yes, yes, only pretend, but we do have to make it look realistic."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him closer.

 **0o0**

It was the sound of raindrops beating a tattoo on the roof that woke Lan Fan next. She opened her eyes and found the room bright, the sun high enough in the sky to force its light through the heavy clouds. This was not going to be a day to leave the house, no one would be looking for them anyway in this heavy rain and Ling was probably not going to let her leave the bed.

He mumbled something in his sleep then, tightened the grip on her waist and pulled her fractionally closer. At least, she was probably not going to leave until he woke up.

She used her free hand to pull the blanket up higher over them. The elderly couple would typically knock before they came in if they wanted something, but the old woman had a tendency to just march straight into the room anyway. Of course, given their current state it would hardly be a bad thing, for now she could tell her friends that she caught the young couple in bed together and how could they be the escaped prince and his guard when they were so obviously not? Actually, Lan Fan would prefer that the woman not tell. No matter how thrilling it was sometimes to know that Ling loved her back, truly, she was not going to forget that their relationship was not going to have a happy ending. Then again, knowing this; she should not have let it begin in the first place.

It had happened because of the nightmares.

Since that first day when he had found her stumbling through the forest near the Yao lands, covered in the blood and gore of his murdered siblings, Ling had developed a tendency to stick close to Lan Fan at all times. She had been under severe shock, and he had been forced to feed her, and help her bathe (though with all clothes on) and calm her down when she had trouble sleeping. Eventually she had recovered, but sometimes she had horrible ones, mingling with memories of King Bradley and Father and Amestris that woke her screaming and made her ill. He had found a solution was simply to lie with her holding her hand so that she could feel him there and not panic. And it had worked for a while too, until the night when she woke up crying and he had kissed her.

Of course, Lan Fan had pushed him away from her and reminded him of their roles and their purpose and that he should not do that considering that he was still a Prince of Xing and she merely his vassal. He had agreed at the time, seemingly more shocked at his action than she. But then it had happened another night and she could not help that she had kissed him back. He learned then what she had been keeping from him, and so things had progressed from that night. Now it was not unusual for her to wake still entangled with him, her body sore but not in an unpleasant way, and wishing for a way that they could have a happy ending. Of course, if she wanted one of those she should not have been born to be his vassal.

Ling grunted again and then snuggled closer. After a moment he kissed a spot just under her right ear and said, "It's raining. We can't go out."

She tried not to but she blushed anyway and replied, "We can't stay in here either."

Sounding much more awake now, he said, "Everyone else is asleep." Indeed the elderly couple were still in bed, their _qi_ steady, dormant, though the old man's was slightly weaker than it was yesterday. He was probably going to die soon, before the year was up, but that was not something that could be helped. Lan Fan revelled in the feel of Ling's, still so strong against hers, and then he took her by the waist and rolled onto his back so that she was settled on top of him. "No one's going to be doing much of anything today."

She could not help herself, she leaned down to kiss him and he slid his hands lower to her hips and shifted her just so. She squirmed and he grinned and whispered against her lips, "Actually, I can think of something to do…"

It was intoxicating, being this close. More than once, Lan Fan felt as if she would be consumed by it all, that she would lose herself to him. They could not be together like this often, so he was often very greedy with the time that they had and in turn channelled that longing into actions. For days after there would be marks on her flesh, which earned her no end of knowing looks from those who knew what they were. But she would mark him too; though they often took care of her metal arm. With the nails of her flesh arm she had already scoured deep lines into his shoulder blades, arm and waist. If he noticed or were bothered by them, as she often was when she saw them, he never mentioned it. And that frightened her most of all, the fact that he minded no injury as long as it was her, more than the fact that he could trap her in the middle of a room with just a glance.

It had been about a month since their last encounter. Life with the elderly couple often meant nights where they would fall asleep the moment their heads touched their pillows. Lan Fan found it difficult not to reach for him sometimes, even when he was drop-dead tired. He was not the only greedy one.

She lay after with her head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat while he planted a series of kisses along her flesh arm. It was at these times that she could just pretend that they were truly a normal couple, with no threat hanging over their heads. It was a nice thought.

Then Ling said, "What if we did have a child?"

She lifted her head to look at him. He was staring at her seriously, no squinting, no fox smile. She felt her breath hitch and her heartbeat speed up again but she swallowed it down and said, "Have you lost your mind?"

"We could," he replied with a shrug, looking away from her. "We have a duty to our clan, you know."

"Which you will fulfil when you are emperor," she said, pushing upright off of him. She took some of the sheets with her to cover herself but he grabbed her by the waist to keep her beside him. When he refused to release his grip, she said, "They did not destroy the entire clan. All of us are aware of our duty and we will not shy away from it. But you, my lord, your duty is beyond Yao, your duty is to Xing."

He looked very much as if he wanted to disagree with this. But he also knew that their relationship was destined to end and it was best not to make that any more complicated than it was going to be. He sat up to kiss her again, long and deep, and said, "I know, I'm sorry, I will not bring it up again."

Lan Fan watched his face as he drew away from her and felt her heart breaking. He did not have to look that disappointed. He knew the risks. He knew their situation. Why on Earth would he ever think this was a good idea? Had he forgotten that he was supposed to be a wanted fugitive? Did he forget that they were supposed to be on their way to the borders, to Ishval? She kissed him back, breaking it only when they could no longer breathe, and said, "If… One day, if… I cannot promise you any such thing."

"I know," he said.

 **0o0**

Lan Fan would remember that conversation some two days later as she was throwing up against a tree on her way back to the house. The elderly woman, Guo-Li, could only stand by helplessly while the girl first brought up the remnants of last night's dinner and their meagre breakfast and then began to dry heave. She had been nauseous since waking up that morning, this time alone; Ling had left early with the old man to help him survey the damage their three-day thunderstorm had wrought. Concerns about his safety out and about on his own allowed her to ignore it. Then they had been walking back, she caught the smell of something rotting and that was the end of it.

When the worst of it had passed, Guo-Li said, "Nine times I went through it, each time more terrible than the last because at the end of it the baby still died. But you should be more fortunate than I; you look like you have always been well-fed. A little strain should not be too bad."

Lan Fan said nothing to this; too busy making calculations in her head and not liking the conclusions. She forced herself to keep her hand away from her stomach. Guo-Li continued, smiling gently at her, "I'll make you some tea when we get back. It's an old remedy."

"Thank you," said Lan Fan, wiping her mouth, straightening away from the tree. Her head felt light and her vision swam a little. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and said, "I think… I think I need to sit down."

Guo-Li was way ahead of her. Setting down her basket of firewood next to the pails Lan Fan had been carrying; she walked to the girl, put a hand over her shoulder and helped her over to a fat root. Lan Fan lay down over it and focused on breathing. If this was what the baby sickness was like and that it was going to continue from today onward, she would not survive it. But there were ways to deal with these things, were there not? Old remedies, much like Guo-Li's tea that women often spoke of in hushed voices with each other. And Ling would never know, after all, two days earlier she had just told him that they could not have a child.

Guo-Li went back to the buckets for a moment and returned with a damp cloth to press against Lan Fan's forehead. Lan Fan relished the feeling against her warmed skin for a moment and then said, "I don't think I can do this… we don't have a proper home… things are not… we can't do this."

She felt Guo-Li's hand on her head again, patting gently, and the woman replied, "You are strong. If you can survive losing that arm, you can manage this. And I don't think Bo is going to mind too much. Yes, it will be hard but he loves you. There's nothing that he won't do for you."

Lan Fan thought of the way he had looked at her that morning two days earlier. _"What if we did have a child?"_ he had asked seriously.

"Ah, you would have a handsome son," said Guo-Li. "Strong too. We should get you a reading as soon as possible."

Lan Fan did not need a reading. This could not happen. Not in this Xing where the emperor was trying to kill his own son and had murdered his children to make himself immortal. But then, maybe this was not what she thought it was. She was ill, yes, and had been feeling unwell for a little while, but that was because of her nightmares. She and Ling had always been careful, so maybe this was nothing.

She wished that she could believe that.

 **0o0**

Ling and the old man, Shendong, did not return to the house until dark. During that time, Lan Fan had thrown up twice more and only settled when Guo-Li had brewed the promised cup of special tea. She was more than dismayed to discover that it worked.

Guo-Li took in her bleak look with a reassuring smile and said, "Don't worry. You'll be fine. Women have been having babies for a long time. It's not all bad."

Lan Fan could not bring herself to respond.

Oblivious to the unfolding crisis, Ling came through the door with the old man laughing about something the two had been discussing on the way back. At least he was laughing until he saw the expression on Lan Fan's pale face and the barely-contained delight of the elderly woman. It worsened when Guo-Li said to his vassal, "You just sit there and rest, I'll get you another cup."

"Jiao?" asked Ling.

She looked up at him but her expression did not change. She pulled her hands away from where they had strayed to her lap and set them on the table. Shendong went to his wife and asked, "What happened? Is everything alright?"

Instead of replying to her husband, Guo-Li said to Lan Fan, "Jiao, why don't you help Bo freshen up for dinner?"

Lan Fan barely glanced at her before rising and leading Ling off to their room. He hesitated only a moment before following, feeling a rising panic that he did not display even after they were closed off from the rest of the house. Instead he watched as Lan Fan walked to the centre of the room and stopped, with her back turned to him. But she made no attempt to speak, just stood there clutching at her arms. When he could take it no more, he asked, "Lan Fan… what happened?"

"I think I have the baby sickness," she said.

He blinked. Shook his head a little to clear it and asked, "What?"

She turned around, face pale, and eyes wide, and said, "I… I think I'm pregnant."

Now it was his turn to go wide-eyed and he asked again, "What?"

"I don't think all those times I've been sick have been nothing… they did not actually begin until a few weeks ago actually… and then I started checking back dates and… we have a problem," she said.

Ling stared at her wordlessly for a long while. She looked back at him for as long as she dared, then dropped her gaze and began to fidget with the side of her dress. It was an old thing, borrowed from the old woman, but it was clean and had been rarely used. In the imperial palace she would be wearing her traditional black uniform and mask, she would stand at Emperor Yao's back and they would not be having this conversation. Most of their life now consisted simply of surviving, depending on the kindness of strangers and the continued obliviousness of the imperial guard. They were constantly on the move and were not even assured their lives unless they made it out of Xing. This was neither time nor place for a baby. Then finally, Ling said, "I can feel it."

"What?" Lan Fan asked, confused.

"It's _qi_ ," he replied. "It's faint, but it's there."

"Oh," said Lan Fan, comprehending. He had been scanning her _qi_. Then when she realised what that meant, she exclaimed, "Oh!" Her hands went to her abdomen before she could stop herself and a moment later was joined by his. She looked up to find him beaming down at her. She scowled at once and said, "You should not be happy."

He grinned wide and said, "I know I should not be, but I am. I'm very, very happy."

She pulled away from him, still frowning and said, "We can't do this."

His grin vanished and he asked, "Then what do you want to do?"

She said nothing and refused to look at him. He was not an idiot; he knew exactly what she had meant. She braced herself for his fury but was surprised by the softness of his tone when he said, "Please, don't."

She closed her eyes, trying not to hear the way his voice wavered. He was pleading with her. Fury she had been anticipating, fury she could deal with, but not this. She had no defence against this.

He took her hands in his own and kissed them both, then drew her into his arms and said, "I know that this is asking a lot of you. As your lord I have command of much of your life, but this… I should not ask this of you too but that someday you talked about, it is here, now. So please, please," he kissed her forehead, "please keep our child."

She sighed and pulled away from him. He let her go and she went to the window and watched the lights of their distant neighbours twinkling in the darkness like stars. Then she said, "It is too dangerous. I won't be able to protect you and if we are found… there's no telling what the emperor would do."

"I won't let him get to you," said Ling. "We've made it this far, I will not lose now."

She sighed again and looked away from the window. Her gaze fell on the bassinet where it still sat on the table. She turned back to him and said, "It is high treason to harm a member of the Imperial Family, punishable by death. Even in this land, fugitive princes are protected by the law."

For a moment he stared at her confused, and then his expression melted into a bright smile.

 **0o0**

Lan Fan regretted her decision the moment she awoke the next morning. Lying down in the cocoon formed by Ling's body, the bedclothes and the wall had been wonderful. Getting up and going to the bathroom was not. The moment she stood the dizziness hit and she had to hold the wall all the way to the outhouse. Then she threw up until there was only air.

According to her calculations she had to be around five to seven weeks along, which meant there were another twenty-nine to thirty-one weeks, or approximately another two hundred to two hundred and twenty days to go. If every morning began like this however, she doubted she would make it. Then there was the matter of the exhaustion, which she was already feeling, the swelling, which had not happened, yet, and the tenderness, which was happening but was not so bad. Her nausea had stifled her appetite but Guo-Li said that was only temporary, after which time she would be hungry almost all the time. But in the end, and here Guo-Li had smiled brightly, there would be a child, and she would pray for a healthy one, boy or girl, who would be handsome and clever and strong.

Lan Fan had sniffled a little at that but made no comment.

Everyone was still asleep when she went back into the house. For all his excitement, Ling had been out in the fields all day and had drifted off to sleep lamenting the state of the farming equipment. But he had also kept one hand on her still-flat stomach the whole time. It made the whole thing that much worse, really, because Lan Fan could not find it in her to be excited. Agreeing to have the child was one thing, knowing what she could do while carrying it was another.

Already she had dismissed direct combat. She could probably throw a few bombs at the enemy, though with a considerable distance between them, but she doubted it would be good to take a hit anywhere near her stomach. Well, not that she would allow anyone close enough to hit her, but lucky shots could happen.

Then there was the travel. While things were quiet for now as the last rumours had declared the prince drowned; there was no telling if they would be recognised. How long could she travel for? She supposed that she would have to figure out a lot of this as she went along, but she did not want to do that at the cost of the child's life.

And then there was the matter of after the child was born. A prince or princess of Xing was typically born and named in the Imperial Palace before being returned to their mother's clan where they would be prepared for the battle for the throne. If they were lucky then their clan would either be wealthy enough to provide numerous different tutors and bodyguards, as the Yao had done for Ling, or too poor for consideration like the Chang and Mei. It was usually the clans in the middle who fought most fiercely for a chance at the throne, and the enmity between them was as deep as it was legendary. But there would be no such thing for this child. Its father was not emperor but a fugitive prince, declared murderer of his siblings, condemned to death if he were found in Xing or exile if he managed to escape. There would also be no tutors or bodyguards other than its parents and no chance at the throne as long as its immortal grandfather lived. For what reason, really, did Ling ask that question? Why on earth did he want them to have a child?

There was a creak from a floorboard and Lan Fan turned to hear the following shuffle of slipper-clad feet. A moment later she recognised the _qi_ as belonging to old Shendong and she rose to help him. He called out from the darkened corridor, "No need, sit down, sit down, I'll get there eventually."

She went to the little woodstove instead and said, "Well then I shall make you tea, I can do that much."

"I see the baby's already waking you up early," said the old man, carefully making his way into the kitchen.

She could not help the blush on her cheeks, but she said evenly, "It's a good habit to have. My grandfather never let me sleep until the sun was out. I had to be up and ready to go with the sun."

The old man took her seat at the table, heavily, wearily, and Lan Fan was reminded of his weakening _qi_. She had not been able to find the baby's, Ling had much more experience distinguishing individual souls since his time as a homunculus but she thought it for the better that she did not. She could still lose the child and blame it on a miscarriage if she did not know its soul.

"Your grandfather was a good man," said Shendong, drawing his clothes tighter around himself for warmth. "It's a pity that he will not see his great-grandchild."

Lan Fan inhaled, held it and then released it slowly. She said, "It's for the best… he may not have approved." In fact, Lan Fan was sure that he would not have. He had not raised her to become the prince's right hand and shadow, his blade in the dark and shield in the light only for her to fall into his bed. She was not supposed to be a concubine or a royal wife.

Shendong scoffed, disbelieving and said, "He loved you, didn't he? Even if he did not approve at first, in time he certainly would have had a change of heart when he saw that baby."

Lan Fan refused to admit that she thought so too. She had worked very hard to become Ling's guard, but there were times when she had been indulged as well. Not that there was anything wrong with that, because she loved most making her grandfather proud of her. But this, at this time, this was not something that she could see him being happy about.

She made quick work of preparing the tea and bringing it back to the table for Shendong. As she set down the tray though, he said, "I did not know that Imperial bodyguards had to learn tea service."

Before she could stop herself she froze, and then she looked over at the old man with wide eyes to find him smiling gently back at her. "Don't worry, I won't tell. It took me a while to figure it out too, because you two have been very well-trained, but your arm is too finely made, and 'Bo' does not carry himself all the time like a peasant. I suspect that he is a prince, if not our missing Crown Prince, and you are a retainer?"

She sat down and began to pour the tea. After a moment, she said, "You have a good eye."

"I have good _eyes_ ," corrected Shendong. "It's how I also know that he's very, very happy about that baby… and you're not."

She clenched her metal hand into a fist, unclenched it and said, "My lord has forgotten the danger… and I have allowed him. I have always been a little too blind when it comes to him, and that is bad for a guard. I may have sworn my life to protecting his, but I still must be able to tell when he has gone astray. The guard must never be the last to know when trouble is brewing."

She passed a cup to Shendong and had one for herself. It was a little thin, as most of the food was in this region, but it was good and did not disturb her stomach. She opened her eyes after relishing the first sip to find the old man staring at her. When she blinked, he said, "He's in love with you, completely in love with you. I have watched him deliberating for hours about the weight of a bucket you're carrying, the gaze of a man you've just walked past, the tread of your feet after a long day. He speaks of plans, not very clearly of course, but things that he intends to do and if somehow they might cause you trouble, he will discard them. He forces himself to eat less food so that you can have more of it. You are the world and if anything were to happen to you… or that child now, I don't think he would survive it."

Lan Fan took a deep breath, released it heavily and said, "I don't want this child to cost him his life. I know… I should trust him to his training, and I do, but I don't want him to be worrying about me when he should be worrying about himself. And… and I love him too, so much that it hurts, that I can barely breathe… how can he ask me to separate from him?"

Shendong shrugged and said, "He does not want to be parted from you. If anything, I think he firmly believes this child will bind you together forever."

"I'm already bound to him," said Lan Fan. "It was decided since before I was born. We were raised together to ensure it. My duty, my loyalty, my love, it is one and the same for me. I would cut my own throat before I betrayed him."

"Perhaps," said Shendong. "But he made no vow to you. He could dismiss you from his side whenever he so desires. This child is his vow to you, that even if and when you are parted, he is still with you."

Lan Fan scoffed, "That kind of reasoning is why the heirs have been trying to kill each other for generations. They are all vows to the various clans that Xing is one family."

Shendong nodded at that and asked, "Then would you prefer that he simply loves you and wants a child with you because of that?"

Lan Fan shook her head and replied, "He cannot love me."

"But he does," said Shendong. "And all he can speak of now is 'our child', not his or yours, but 'our'."

" _Please keep our child,"_ he had said and kissed her on the forehead. _"What if we did have a child?"_ he had asked so seriously. She could still feel his hand on her belly, just above where their child nestled and grew. The look on his face when he felt its _qi_ for the first time, and when she agreed to let it live. She said, "We cannot be."

 **0o0**

Eight weeks later, Lan Fan awoke to find that her belly was no longer flat. Ling had already left with Shendong for the market, so she would make her discovery alone as she sat up and realised that her pyjamas were a little snug in the waist. For a moment she stared down at it confused, then loosened the tie slightly and stood up, smoothing down the front of the top with a hand. And that was when she felt the curve.

She had long begun to feel the baby's _qi_ , from some two weeks after discovering that she was pregnant. It had been barely distinguishable from her own but steady and each day grew stronger, a constant presence in the back of her mind that was comforting as it was unnerving whenever she was alone. But it had still been somewhat of an intangible concept. She had accepted its existence but sometimes truly forgot that it was even there. Now though, this was different. She slid her hand down her abdomen again, feeling the slight roundness, the firmness of it and just behind it the _qi_ that had separated itself from hers.

Just then, as if summoned, Guo-Li appeared with fresh linens. She took one look at Lan Fan, dropped her bundle and cried, "Oh! Oh, Jiao! We're going to have to get you new clothes!"

"It is early still…" protested Lan Fan, feebly.

"But it will grow fast… oh, well maybe we can get you one dress, something that will give you some room," said Guo-Li, already on her way out the room in search of her purse.

Lan Fan followed, hand still on the curve of her belly, and said, "Do not worry, it is still early… I can still use what I have."

"Nonsense, consider it a gift. Shendong and I have no children to leave anything to, we are happy to help you in any way we can," said Guo-Li, waving off her protests.

Lan Fan thought of the old man's weakening _qi_ , the medicines that would need to be purchased, the physician's fees. When she and Ling made it over the border they would be protected, hidden, her family had many friends and allies and it was only because they knew these people to be watched that they had not yet sought them out. And there would be plenty, for her and the child. She said, "You know that it is not necessary."

Guo-Li paused then and turned back to Lan Fan in the corridor. Smiling softly, she said, "It would be an honour, my lady."

Lan Fan coloured and ducked her head, then said in a low voice, "You do not have to call me that."

"Is your husband not the prince?" asked Guo-Li with a teasing smile.

The prince was not her husband at all but Lan Fan could not say that. Not unless one considered her shy nod to his "Are you sure?" the night they let nature run its course a vow of marriage. She tried not to blush at this memory and replied, "It is fine to call me 'Jiao'."

"Then consider it a gift for the little prince or princess," said Guo-Li.

To refuse again would be insulting so Lan Fan said, "Alright."

Guo-Li beamed at her and said, "I will see you adorned in the phoenix robes one day, my lady." Then she hurried off again to find her purse, leaving Lan Fan to resume her worry about Ling's reaction.

Despite Ling's declaration that he could feel its _qi_ , Guo-Li had still taken Lan Fan to a midwife who confirmed what they suspected. The midwife had provided a long list of things that could and could not be done, to be eaten, to be avoided, and most important, to lessen the nausea, and sent them on their way. Ling had read the list, three times and then set about doing everything in his power to keep Lan Fan from going _anywhere_ unaccompanied. At least until she snapped at him, at which point he tried to be surreptitious, but now….

She spent the day on edge, bracing for what would happen after he stepped through the door and saw her new look. But instead of the wild panic she had expected, when he returned with Shendong, he did not notice anything was different. In fact, it was not until they had retired for the night and she was changing for bed, that he looked up and said, " _That_ wasn't there yesterday."

She paused in the midst of wrapping her pyjama top and followed his gaze to her belly. Then she smiled and said "No, no it wasn't."

He stood then and walked over to her. She let the top fall open and waited. But instead of the expected hands over her belly, he slid his hands under the top to pull her into an embrace and kissed her. She was practically panting when he released her, and when he moved to go back to the bed she stayed him with a hand and asked, "Where are you going?"

"To bed, today was long and you should rest," he replied.

She tightened her grip and said, "If you don't finish what you started I will drag you back to the emperor myself."

His eyes went wide, stunned, but after a moment he grinned and said, "Yes, my lady."

 **0o0**

"That tickles," said Lan Fan, when she awoke the next morning. Ling had been laying a series of butterfly kisses across her exposed stomach.

She swatted at his head and he seized her hand and said, "I was just telling our son, good morning."

She opened her eyes at this and asked, "It's a boy? You can tell?"

He gave her a rueful smile, "Ah, no, just a guess. Besides, you have too much yang in your _qi_ , and so does he… or she. With our luck, it will probably be a girl, just like you."

She made to swat him again, but he leaned forward and kissed her. Then, when he pulled away again, he said, "I will adorn you in the phoenix robes, my lady."

She gasped and sat up, nearly knocking him over. He avoided the collision at the last minute, falling to the side, asking as he went, "What? What is it? Is everything alright?"

Lan Fan glared down at him, now propped on an elbow, and said, "Guo-Li said something similar just yesterday, are you conspiring with her?"

He grinned up at her and replied, "No, but I like the way she thinks."

She folded her arms and began, "There cannot be an empress, not unless you're handing the throne to Princess Chang. There are fifty clans and showing favour to any single one, especially your own—"

"Then you will not marry me?" he asked, cutting her off.

Her eyes went wide and her face went red, swiftly followed by the rest of her skin. He waited, an innocent, patient expression on his face, until finally she recovered enough to stammer, "W-what?"

He sat up then and said, "I will not have you as a concubine. I want you beside me when I take my father's throne. If you are a concubine, you would be confined to the harem. I cannot have that. Who would dare tell the Empress of Xing where she can and cannot go?"

She still just stared at him, stunned, until his face reddened and he dropped his gaze and made to move away from her. Then she reached for his arm and when he looked back at his face, nodded. The smile he gave then, before of course scooping her into his arms and kissing her again, was the brightest she had ever seen.

Lan Fan spent the rest of the morning giddy with happiness, blushing each time she remembered the proposal, which was quite often. Guo-Li, unaware of the cause, kept shooting her curious looks but made no comment. It did not help that Ling was no better, and seemed to have trouble looking her in the face once they were out of their room. It was perhaps a little silly, especially given all that they had already done, but Lan Fan could not bring herself to care. This was a dream come true.

Two weeks later, Lan Fan was awakened in the middle of the night by raised voices in the kitchen. She could not hear them clearly, but there were five sources of _qi_ where there should have been three and Ling's seemed slightly distressed. She was up and on her way to them when she remembered that she had promised not to throw herself into trouble. But before she could turn around and go back a familiar voice said, "You can come out, Lan Fan. I'm not going to hurt this idiot prince; I know he didn't try to kill me."

"Chang?" cried Lan Fan, rushing into the room. Sure enough, there was Ling's half-sister, looking taller and thinner than she recalled, and dressed in the Amestrian fashion. And standing with her was also "Alphonse Elric!"

The tall, blond boy smiled back at her, and said, "Hey, Lan Fan, it's good to see you. You look well."

She could barely believe that she was happy to see them, the both of them, but she was. At least until Mei said, "You look… fat."

Lan Fan scowled at her and said, "I'm not fat." Leave it to Princess Chang to take away her good humour.

"Could fool me," said Mei. "What, did you pick up Ling's eating habits? Are you two eating these poor people out of house and home?"

"Oh, they haven't been," said Guo-Li before Lan Fan could respond. "We are honoured that they decided to stay with us."

"Indeed," said Shendong. "His Highness and Miss Lan Fan have been great help. I will be the envy of my ancestors. To be served by a prince!" He grinned at that and Lan Fan smiled at him.

Then Guo-Li added, "And it is even more of an honour to provide shelter, however brief, for the future First Prince or Princess of Xing!"

There was a moment of stunned silence, where Mei and Alphonse looked confused, Ling and Lan Fan paled and Shendong tut-tutted at his wife. Oblivious to what she had just done, Guo-Li smiled broadly at each of them. Then Mei asked, "Who is she talking about?"

Lan Fan decided against denial, it was not like they were not going to find out eventually. She replied, "I'm pregnant."

Now Mei and Alphonse went wide-eyed, Mei's mouth falling open, and Lan Fan blushed. A moment later, Mei's eyes widened further and she swung around to Ling and exclaimed, "You!"

Ling straightened, folded his arms and replied, "Yes?"

"Congratulations!" said Alphonse, smiling. "I mean, this is unexpected but it is great news!"

Mei turned to Lan Fan now and asked, "You let him do _that_ to you?" Her expression of horror was hilarious.

"She did. Many times," replied Ling without embarrassment, but Lan Fan flushed, as did the others, and scowled at him. He gave her his most lascivious smile in return.

Alphonse cleared his throat, loudly, and said, "As we were discussing before you arrived, Lan Fan, the Imperial Guard have been closing in on this area. We need to get you all out before they find this house. Brother and the others are waiting in the Chang lands. But perhaps we should make arrangements to take you to Ishval…"

"I won't leave Xing, not without my lord," said Lan Fan.

Mei turned back to Ling, "Tell her that she can't stay here. It's too dangerous."

"I did," said Ling. "She refused."

"And you gave up, just like that? She's carrying your child! If the emperor finds out about this, he won't hesitate to go after her. Besides, she can't fight, not in her condition," protested Mei.

"I'm not going to fight," said Lan Fan. "Not in any direct way, anyway, but I can still build bombs and prepare weapons and teach people a few things. I will not leave my lord behind."

"If he has any sense, he would get you out of Xing," said Mei. She took a breath and then said, "We need to leave here, and quickly."

Lan Fan looked to the elderly couple. Shendong and Guo-Li smiled reassuringly at her, and Guo-Li said, "I will give you the basket. You will need it. And that new dress we talked about… though perhaps it would be best if they did not know that you have that baby in your belly."

Ling walked before the couple, bowed and said, "We thank you for all that you have done. I promise that we will see to it that there is always someone around to care for people in situations like yours. I hope that I may even still be able to help you."

Shendong said, "The honour is ours, Your Highness."

Guo-Li added with a mischievous grin, "I would just be happy if you kept that girl fat with your children. She is even prettier now than when she first came to us, and they will be handsome children, all of them and you will be grateful for them in your old age."

"Oh, I intend to," said Ling, winking back at her.

Lan Fan huffed angrily behind him, but that only earned her the laughter of the others which followed her as she stomped out to go change. Just because she had agreed to marry him, and was already carrying one child, did not mean that she intended to have another. She had enough trouble keeping tracking of _him_.

She had no sooner stepped into the bedroom though, than the door opened again and she turned to find him standing there.

"What is it?" she asked, turning her attention to what little of their belongings she needed to pack.

He said, "I love you."

She gasped and turned back to face him. No teasing grin, no fox squint, he was serious. Knowing this sent her heart racing and she had to keep her breathing even to reply, "I love you too."

"Just one more… so that he won't be lonely," he said.

"I was never lonely," she said.

"Well, you had me. I know it's not the same, because we weren't siblings, and I never really knew mine… but maybe they can be like the Elrics," he said, smiling a little.

"Dangerous little genius alchemists who will try to transmute me in the event that you disappear and I die waiting for you to return?" she asked.

It took him a moment to realise that she was teasing and he said, smiling wider now, "No, best friends for life."

He looked as if he genuinely believed in it. She replied, "I'll think about it…"

" _Hey! We were talking here!"_ called someone from the kitchen, probably Mei. He started to leave again, but paused in the doorway and said, "I love you."

She smiled and replied, "I love you."


End file.
